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How do we learn to pray? In Talking with God, Ryan Cook suggests that the Psalms help answer the disciples' request, "Teach us to pray." They give us words for talking with God through every part of life—praise, confession, fear, frustration, gratitude, sin, forgiveness, and hope.

In this episode, we finish our tour of Book One by exploring Psalms 29–41.

We begin with praise as Psalm 29 gives us powerful images of God's strength, while Psalm 30 celebrates what God has personally done for the psalmist. Mourning will not last forever. God gives chen—favor and grace—and there is hope that sorrow will once again turn to joy.

Psalms 31–33 remind us that we can rest in God when we're weary, confess our sin and know we are forgiven, and trust that God remains in control even when the world feels anything but controlled. We also see that forgiveness isn't simply a New Testament idea. Psalm 32 celebrates the blessing of confession and forgiveness and reminds us of God's chesed—His steadfast covenant love.

As we continue, watch for the "checklists" scattered throughout these psalms. What characterizes someone who follows God? What actions characterize the wicked? What does God value? Psalms 34, 36, 37, and 41 give us practical descriptions we can use to examine our own lives and even talk with our children about the kind of people we want to become.

Psalm 35 gives us words for another difficult situation: dealing with enemies. David doesn't take justice into his own hands—he asks God to deal with those who oppose him. Psalm 37 then gives us a list of what we can do while we wait: trust, delight, commit, refrain, and be still. Like Psalm 1, we're once again presented with two different ways to live.

Finally, Psalms 38–41 get deeply personal. Sin affects all of us, wealth offers false security, our days are limited, and trouble will come. Yet we can confess, ask God to guard our words, remember how He has provided in the past, and trust Him with what comes next.

As you read the Psalms for yourself, try looking for these practical "checklists" and use them to guide your prayers and actions. Or color-code each psalm according to its dominant emotion—praise, trouble, lament, gratitude, confession, or hope. The Psalms don't simply tell us about God. They teach us how to talk with Him.

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Music: Tabuk by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4453-tabukLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/